Ben Shelton to join US Davis Cup squad in Prague days after US Open final loss

Ben Shelton will move directly from the US Open to Davis Cup duty after losing the final on Sunday, having been named on Monday to the United States team for a second-round qualifying tie against the Czech Republic in Prague this week. He is also scheduled to join Team World at the Laver Cup in London the following weekend.

The 22-year-old reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open and despite the defeat moved up to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP rankings on Monday. The Davis Cup selection will be Shelton's second appearance for the United States and his first since the 2024 finals.

Learner Tien, Martin Damm, Christian Harrison and Austin Krajicek were also included in the US squad. Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul withdrew from the team.

Tien reached the fourth round of the US Open, while Damm took eventual semifinalist Frances Tiafoe to five sets in the first round. The 20-year-old Tien and 22-year-old Damm will make their first Davis Cup appearances.

The United States will meet the Czech Republic on Friday and Saturday in a best-of-five tie on an indoor hard court at Prague's O2 Arena. The Czech squad named Jakub Mensik, Jiri Lehecka, Tomas Machac and Vit Kopriva.

Shelton will then travel to London to represent Team World at the Laver Cup, where Alexander Zverev, who beat Shelton in the US Open final, will represent Team Europe. The Laver Cup appearance follows the Davis Cup qualifying tie by a matter of days.

Several other leading players are involved in Davis Cup ties this week, including Alex de Minaur for Australia, Stefanos Tsitsipas for Greece and Casper Ruud for Norway. Other scheduled matchups include India vs South Korea, Chile vs Spain, Britain vs Ecuador, Austria vs Belgium and Canada vs France, with 52 nations competing across the different levels of the Davis Cup this weekend.

The winner of the US-Czech qualifying tie will advance to the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, Italy, in November.